Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Shake the Earth

At the end of almost all, if not all, of my blog posts I sign off with the phrase "shake the earth." This phrase has a lot of meaning to me and it all originated from one of my favorite bands in high school. The band was called Chapters and Verses and my favorite song they played was called Shake the Earth. It is still my favorite song to this day.

Here are the lyrics:
I'll say it loud, at the top of my lungs.
And I'll drop my guard, just hear me out this time.
My life is empty, and my ending's ruined. And I am nothing without you.
I slept but my heart was awake. I slept but my heart was awake.
We sing, and we burn before you. We're broken.
We love, and we hate before you. We're broken.
Take charge, of all these ruins. We need this. We need this.
You give us something to hope for, a reason to breathe.
You give us something to hope for, just speak.
Shake the earth. Tear down everything.
Your hands will, shake the earth.
Go! And we'll go on.
And we'll go on. Oh yeah! We'll follow you out.
The time is now. The time is now.
Shake the earth.

My friends and I saw Chapters and Verses play shows multiple times at the Warehouse in Willmar, MN including a cd release show. We really enjoyed their music and their lyrics. We had a lot of fun attending their concerts, but we also enjoyed jamming out to their music at other times as well. It was a common occurrence for a dozen or so of us to pile out of a couple of cars in a random parking lot and make our own mosh pit. We had a lot of fun, and I'm sure we looked crazy!

From the depths of Youtube- here is a link to a video of Shake the Earth being performed at the Warehouse in Willmar. I was at this show! (I'm near the stage on the left just outside of the mosh pit. I recognized my friend Glenn going crazy in the pit and that's how I was able to find myself haha.)

The lead singer of Chapters and Verses, Shane, went on to form the band Hands and later on the band Everything In Slow Motion. Both of these bands were signed to Facedown records. Hands recently played at a festival in Fargo, ND and I was able to attend! It was a lot of fun seeing them play again, it was very nostalgic for me for sure. Hands and Chapters and Verses were a huge part of my life and I still live by some of their lyrics to this day.



The only bands other than Chapters and Verses and Hands that have had similar lasting impact on my life would be Spoken and For Today. Those bands are at the top of my list when I go on long road trips and I'm driving late at night. They help me stay awake and I still have many of their lyrics memorized haha!

The phrase 'the time is now, shake the earth' has been something I think about often. It is something I want to do and that I strive to do. I want to change the world for the Lord. I want to be a change maker. And this isn't only a goal in the future, this is something that is meant to be done NOW. The time is now. The moment is now. Today is the day of salvation.

If we Christians truly believe people are dying and going to hell every single day, then why aren't we doing more about it?! We should be sharing the love of Jesus with those we come in contact with. We should be stepping out in faith and boldness in order to share our faith and our relationship with the Lord with those around us.

This is something I am very passionate about, and this song definitely helped push me toward that sort of mindset as a young man and even into adulthood. Do you have any bands or lyrics from specific songs that helped form who you are to this day? There are others that come to my mind as well, but Shake the Earth definitely stands above the rest.

Until next time- the time is now, shake the earth!!!
- Joel